Levels of Substance Use Stable, Declined Among Students in 2023

FRIDAY, Dec. 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The levels of alcohol, nicotine vaping, and cannabis use remained stable or declined among students in 2023, according to the results of the annual Monitoring the Future survey.

Richard A. Miech, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues surveyed students in eighth, 10th, and 12th grades who self-reported their substance use. Surveys were collected from 22,318 respondents in 2023.

The researchers found that compared with 2022, alcohol use remained stable for eighth and 10th graders in 2023 (15.1 and 30.6 percent, respectively) and decreased among 12th graders (45.7 versus 51.9 percent [in previous year]). Nicotine vaping remained stable in eighth grade and decreased from 20.5 to 17.6 percent in 10th grade and from 27.3 to 23.2 percent in 12th grade. For all three grades surveyed, cannabis use and vaping cannabis remained stable. Delta-8-THC was measured for the first time in 2023; 11.4 percent of 12th graders reported past-year use. For all three grades, any illicit drug use other than marijuana also remained stable. Use of narcotics other than heroin decreased among 12th graders, with 1.0 percent reporting past-year use (down from a high of 9.5 percent in 2004). There was an increase observed in abstaining from marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine among 12th graders, with 62.6 percent reporting abstaining from use of any substances over the past month.

"The Monitoring the Future survey has closely monitored shifts in substance use trends among young people, helping to identify and track emerging trends with public health relevance," Miech said in a statement. "This year's addition of a measure to assess use of delta-8 is one example of this, and we were surprised to see use levels this high among 12th graders."

Press Release

Monitoring the Future